Medical catheters typically have as small a diameter as possible. However, since the catheter typically contains a number of elements, such as an ablation electrode, a strain gauge, position sensors, a temperature-measuring element, together with their associated signal transmitting conductors, there is a practical lower limit to the catheter diameter. It would be advantageous to reduce this lower limit.
A brief description of prior art regarding some of the above-mentioned elements follows.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,379, to Heuser, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a system for treating a blockage in a bodily fluid passageway. The system includes a catheter and a controller for generating radio frequency energy along a pair of output lines, and includes a thermocouple.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,569,052, to Phan, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a medical probe having an ablative element and an optional temperature sensing element.
United States Patent Application Publication 20080294144, to Leo, et al., whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a touch sensing catheter having a strain sensor assembly. The catheter includes an ablation head assembly.
United States Patent Application Publication 20080119846, to Rioux, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a percutaneous probe comprising a sensor capable of sensing physiological information, such as the impedance, temperature, or pressure, of tissue adjacent to a tip electrode of the probe.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.